Sugarcane..

The sugarcane plant was introduced in Mauritius in 1639 by the Dutch colonizers to produce artisanal rum. The first sugar mill was set up at Villebague in 1745. Subsequent colonial powers (France and then Great Britain) used the slave trade and the indentured labour system to expand and consolidate the industry. At its peak, there were 259 sugar mills in 1838 in Mauritius..

In June, at the beginning of the harvest, the fields of sweet grass, on this sugar island, are burnt back to facilitate harvesting..

The cutters work in two shifts round the clock from dawn till dusk. Harvesting sugar cane is hard graft and earns little more than a pittance..

The entire harvest must be brought in within a legally fixed period of 140 days, before being processed in the island’s refineries ..